At The Yule Ball With Fred Weasley
by Gryffindork11
Summary: Instead of Viktor Krum, Hermione attends the Yule Ball with Fred Weasley. This is a cute, fluffy one-shot with hints of HG/FW.


**These are a few scenes I wrote years ago that were going to be part of a series in which Hermione was in the same year as Fred and George and is best friends with them. The series was going to span from H/F/G's first year (two years before Harry starts at Hogwarts) to when H/F/G are age 20 (three years after they have graduated and 1 year after the events of Deathly Hallows). Unfortunately I lost interest in the series when I became a RL/HG shipper, so it never got written.**

**I was intending the series to develop into a FW/HG romance and this scene was supposed to be when this began. In the future I might actually write the series as I had planned, but I still think it's a nice, cute little one shot, all the same.**

**Also, please note that I have borrowed some description/dialogue from The Goblet of Fire but I am NOT J.K. Rowling (unfortunately) and I am not making any money from this. **

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Hermione was sitting comfortably in the common room, curled up in one of the squashy chairs revising her Transfiguration notes. Despite the festive atmosphere in the castle and the growing excitement about the Yule Ball, Professor McGonagall had still seen fit to set her sixth year students a test on human transfiguration. Hermione didn't mind, though, and was working hard, unlike Harry and Ron, who were sitting in the armchairs next to hers, Harry reading _Flying with the Cannons_ and Ron attempting to build a house of cards out of his Exploding Snap set. Every few minutes Hermione gave them both pointed glances because they, too, had been set a test for the end of term, but they refused to revise their Potions notes. Hermione had even tried to motivate Harry to work on the golden egg that he had received in the First Task.

'Leave him alone, Hermione, he's earned a bit of a break,' said Ron, placing the last two cards on top of the house, only to have the whole lot blow up, singeing his eyebrows. Seamus Finnegan, sitting over the other side of the room, roared with laughter.

'Nice look, Ron… go well with your dress robes, that will.' It was Fred, with George standing by his side. They sat down in the two vacant armchairs across from them as Ron turned red and felt how much damage had been done.

'Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?' George asked.

'No, he's off delivering a letter,' said Ron. 'Why?'

'Because George wants to invite him to the ball,' said Fred sarcastically.

'Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat,' said George.

'Who do you keep writing to, eh?' said Ron.

Hermione knew, and now she frowned at Fred and George. They had promised her they wouldn't keep pestering Bagman. She was worried they were going to get in trouble. They both deliberately didn't meet her eye.

'Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too,' said Fred, waving his wand threateningly. 'So… you two got dates for the ball yet?' He was looking at Harry and Ron.

'Nope,' said Ron.

'Well, you'd better hurry up, little bro, or all the good ones will have gone,' said George, smirking at him.

'Who are you going with then?' said Ron.

'Angelina,' said George, with a smile. He looked over at Angelina who noticed him and smiled.

'Yeah, well that's easy,' said Ron, 'everyone knows you've fancied each other for ages. What about you, Fred?'

'Hermione,' said Fred. She looked up, startled and found Fred looking at her, a twinkle in his blue eyes.

'W-what?' she asked.

'Do you want to go to the ball with me?'

Hermione looked at him for a second, as though unsure whether he was joking or not. He looked back at her with his eyes still twinkling and a small smile on his face.

'Yes, ok then,' Hermione said.

Ron and Harry looked slightly taken aback. 'There you go, piece of cake,' Fred said and he go to his feet, 'Come on then, George, we'd better use a school owl…'

They began to walk away and Hermione watched them leave. Then she lowered her eyes to the parchment on her lap and began to tidy it. She felt herself going red. 'Excuse me,' she said suddenly, and she gathered up her belongings and hurried towards the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories.

After neatly putting away her parchment, quills and ink she lay down on her bed, thinking. Why had Fred asked her to the Yule Ball? She could only assume that he had done it to show Ron up and she knew they would be going as friends, but then she began to wonder why it was so important to her why he had asked. She thought about this for a couple more minutes but when she heard Patricia and Hailey coming into their dormitory she moved on her bed into a sitting position so that they didn't think something was wrong.

Hermione spent most of the rest of the term avoiding the girls in her dormitory. They were becoming overbearing in their excitement about the Yule Ball. They were constantly whispering and giggling together, giving boys meaningful glances. They also seemed unable to resist analysing every girl's outfit for the dance in minute detail. Hermione loved to wear dresses as much as most girls and it made her feel pretty when she did, but she disliked the obsession with which the other girls treated them. Hermione had found the perfect dress for the occasion but she refused to discuss it with the others.

Hermione woke on Christmas morning to the shrieks of Hailey and Patricia in their dormitory. Hailey was bouncing on her bed holding a present in each hand. Patricia was huddled under her blankets looked excitedly at her own pile of presents. Alicia, who had been woken at the same time as Hermione by the other girls, was yawning and rubbing her eyes as she sat up in bed.

'Merry Christmas, Hermione!' Patricia said in her high pitched voice.

'Merry Christmas,' said Hermione, as the other girls began ripping the paper off their presents.

Very soon the room was filled with the sounds of laughter and exclamations as the girls were surprised and delighted by their various presents. Paper and ribbons were scattered here and there, as well as several sweet wrappers (Hailey had already opened one of her boxes of chocolates).

Hermione was very pleased with her presents. Her mother and father had gotten her a vast writing set with rolls of different coloured parchments and little bottles of red, green and purple ink as well as several quills made from different feathers. It was presented in a red velvet-lined box and Hermione loved it. Hagrid had bought her a matching scarf, hat and gloves and Hermione smiled, knowing how cold she got, thinking that it was a thoughtful gift. Mrs. Weasley had made her the usual hand-knitted jumper which was a nice shade blue with a yellow quill knitted across the front. She had also included a large package of her delicious homemade mince pies. Harry and Ron had clubbed together to buy her a boxed set of books designed to test a N.E.W.T student's knowledge in a variety of subjects (Potions, Transfiguration and Charms) and Ginny a sweet little ornamental ginger cat that looked remarkably like Crookshanks, which Hermione stood on her bedside table. She didn't find any presents from Fred and George because they always met up in the boys dormitory to exchange gifts.

So after Hermione had tidied her dormitory considerably, she left the others talking excitedly and examining each other's presents and went to the boys' sixth year dormitory, which was empty apart from Fred and George.

'Merry Christmas, Hermione!' said Fred and George simultaneously.

They were still dressed in their pyjamas but they had slipped on their thick comfortable jumpers that their mother had knitted them for Christmas. Fred was wearing a blue jumper with a large yellow capital 'F' on it, while George's was the same except for the capital 'G'.

Hermione beamed at them and sat down opposite them on George's bed.

'Cormac and Lee have gone to breakfast already,' Fred explained.

'Ooo, presents!' George said as he noticed what she was carrying.

'Yeah, happy Christmas,' she said, handing their presents to them. George was the first to open his and smiled as the glass bottle of Muggle men's aftershave fell into his lap. Hermione could tell from his slightly bemused expression that he didn't know what it was.

'It's afterhave,' Hermione explained, 'smell it, you'll love it.'

George unscrewed the cap on the bottle to smell it. 'Thanks, Hermione, it's great.' He smiled at her and handed her a large rectangular shaped present, which, when she opened it, turned out to be a huge selection of Muggle chocolates.

'Thank you, George,' Hermione smiled, 'these look nice.' She turned the box over to read the list of contents on the back. The box truly had an astounding selection of chocolate. There were fudges, pralines, soft centres including orange, strawberry, mint, vanilla and coffee flavours as well as many varieties of ordinary chocolate as well. Hermione looked up at George and smiled deviously. 'I'm not going to share, though, these look too delicious.'

George pouted a little but was too distracted by the bottle of aftershave he was holding. 'Angelina is going to love this on me,' he said smiling and getting to his feet, 'I'm going to have to go and give her a present from me,' he said.

Fred and Hermione watched him, smiling as he hurried out of the dormitory. She looked at the half-opened present he still held absent-mindedly in his hand.

'Aren't you going to open it?'

'Yeah,' he said, eagerly ripping the rest of the paper off. She had bought him a pair of custom-made Quidditch gloves. She had spent a long time trying to find a present that she thought Fred would love.

'Thanks Hermione,' Fred said as he slipped one of the gloves on, 'I really like them.'

'Your hands get so rough from being on your Cleansweep,' Hermione said, reaching down and taking one of his hands in both of hers, 'so I got you the gloves to protect them.' Hermione turned his hand over to look at the rough skin on his palm and ran her thumb over it gently.

Fred slowly pulled his hand away and looked at her strangely. Hermione began to worry that he hated his present.

'What's the matter, Fred?' Hermione asked.

Fred took off the glove and placed the pair on his bedside table. 'Nothing. Here.' He handed her a small, neatly wrapped gift.

It was wrapped in thick silver paper and had a gold ribbon tied around it. Hermione knew it Fred must have taken great care wrapping it, which surprised her because he wasn't a very patient person. She slowly untied the ribbon and began to remove the paper as Fred watched her closely. It was a book, not just any book, though. It was a copy of _Peter Pan_ but its cover was white leather and its thick cream pages had gilt edges. Inside, every chapter began with a beautiful coloured illustration.

'Oh, Fred, I love it!' Hermione exclaimed as she stroked her hand over the soft leather of the front cover. 'Thank you so much!'

Fred was still watching her and smiled as she beamed down at him. 'No problem.'

Hermione leaned closer and kissed him on the forehead in gratitude and he blushed scarlet.

'Erm, what are we going to do today?' Hermione said, stepping back a little.

Fred's huge smile returned. 'Breakfast then a huge snowball fight in the castle grounds. Got to work up an appetite for that magnificent Christmas lunch we're going to get…'

Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes. 'Guess I'd better wrap up warm.'

'George that's not fair!' Hermione complained and she and the others were pelted with snowballs. Fred and George had rolled dozens by magic and had charmed them to aim at the others without having to throw them. They were particularly ruthless but Ron was the worst hit.

'You're just jealous you didn't come out here earlier to prepare some ammunition,' Fred called while merrily dodging a snowball thrown at him by Harry.

Ginny shrieked as Ron sneaked up behind her and dropped a snowball down her hood and then ran away bellowing as she tried to hex him.

By noon they were all breathless and red-cheeked from the cold as well as being thoroughly drenched from head to toe in melted snow.

'Ok! Ok!' said Ron, surrendering as Fred and George chased him around Hagrid's hut with their bewitched snowballs. 'Enough.'

Harry, Ron and Ginny made their way back up to the castle to change for lunch and the other three followed behind. Hermione walked between Fred and George and linked both of her arms through one of theirs. She sighed happily.

Christmas lunch was a merry affair. There were enough students staying at Hogwarts for the holiday that all four house tables and the staff table were set out for the meal.

There must have been a hundred turkeys dotted about along the tables as well tureens of vegetables, dishes piled high with delicious roast potatoes and kilted sausages and little pots of stuffing. For pudding there were platters of steaming Christmas puddings and plates stacked high with mince pies.

Hermione, Fred and George sat with Lee and Alicia and the girls watched in amazement as the three boys had three servings of everything on the table. George, Lee and Alicia got into a deep discussion about Quidditch and Hermione began to feel very sleepy after the magnificent meal. Fred put his arm around her waist and she laid her head on his shoulder while they listened idly to the conversation and sipped butterbeer.

That afternoon was spent enjoying their Christmas presents and playing raucous games of Exploding Snap. By five o'clock many girls, including Hermione got up and headed to their dormitories to begin getting ready for the ball.

'What, you need three hours?' George called after them as Lee rolled his eyes.

The girls in Hermione's dormitory were very giggly as they began to get ready. Hailey slipped into her slinky black dress and began expertly putting on makeup while Alicia and Patricia styled each other's hair.

Hermione put on her dress and felt like a princess. It was a pink dress made from soft silky material whose skirt was tiered in ruffles that became darker and darker shades of pink as they reached the floor. She had found a dark pink ribbon to tie around her waist and some little pink flower-shaped earrings to match her dress.

She opted for minimal makeup as she didn't enjoy wearing it anyway and she took a long time styling her hair. She tied most of it up in an elegant knot at the back of her head but left a few locks of hair and curled them into ringlets to frame her face. Patricia and Alicia and even Hailey looked at her, surprised and slightly jealous.

The other girls left to find their dates and Hermione found that she was the only one left in the dormitory. She slipped on her pink silky flat shoes and felt very nervous. She was relieved that she wasn't going with one of the school champions because then everybody would be looking at her. Finally, she found that she had nothing else to do, and as it was nearly eight o'clock, she made her way slowly down to the entrance hall.

It was crowded and at first she couldn't find Fred. Harry was standing with Pavarti, his date, and the other champions and their partners as Professor McGonagall spoke to them about opening the dance. George was busy talking animatedly to Angelina. Ginny was standing awkwardly with Neville and Ron looked miserable in his ridiculous-looking dress robes with Padma Patil who refused to look at him. When Ron saw Hermione his mouth dropped open. So did many other boys'. Roger Davies suddenly stopped listening to what Joan Kerridge was saying to stare at Hermione, which made Joan give her an evil look. Cormac gaped at her and Hailey nudged him in the ribs. Then Fred spotted her.

At first he just stared and didn't smile, then he gulped and seemed to remember where he was and rushed over to meet her at the foot of the stairs, a huge smile on his face.

'Hi,' he said cheerfully, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.

'Hi,' she replied nervously.

'You-' Fred began, but he was interrupted by Professor McGonagall.

'If you could all please take a seat in the Great Hall, the champions will soon open the dance.'

Fred wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist as they followed the other students into the Great Hall. They found a table of four and sat with George and Angelina. As they waited for the champions to enter Hermione gazed at the décor in the Great Hall. The walls had been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The chatter in the room died down as the champions and their partners entered the room in a procession. Cedric Diggory led the way and had his arm linked with Cho Chang's. Viktor Krum was next and his date was an attractive albeit cunning-looking Slytherin girl, Fleur came next clutching the hand of a tall, handsome Ravenclaw boy who looked dazed at his good fortune at having the most beautiful dance partner. Harry came last, his arm linked with Pavarti's, who was beaming.

As the music started and the couples began making their way across the room, almost every man stared at Fleur, glassy-eyed. Fred wasn't, though. He couldn't take his eyes off Hermione. He held her hand and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

'You look amazing, you know. Beautiful.'

The whole room watched the champions and their partners proceeding to the top table where the judges sat. Hermione watched them. Fred watched Hermione. It made her feel slightly disconcerted, but every time she stole a glance at him, he gave her a small smile. The entire room clapped as the champions and their partners took their seats at the top table.

Hermione turned to Fred, blushing. 'Fred. What?'

'Nothing,' he said with a mischievous grin, his blue eyes twinkling. 'Steak.' He had picked up his plate and spoken into it. When he put the plate back on the table a large steak, roast potatoes and vegetables appeared on it. He picked up his knife and fork and dug in.

Hermione picked up her own plate. 'Salad.'

The food appeared on her plate and the first taste told her it was delicious. It was a tiny meal though, much smaller than Fred's steak. Hermione suspected that the salad was on the menu for the skinny French girls who worried that all the "heavy" English food would make them go up a dress size or two.

George and Angelina had begun eating as well; they both ordered the chicken casserole and were eating heartily, trying to race each other through the meal.

'You should eat more than that, Hermione,' Fred said after swallowing a mouthful of potato.

'No, I'm okay,' Hermione insisted, 'this must have been less work for the house elves.'

Angelina laughed while George rolled his eyes. 'You're not still onto that are you, Hermione?' he asked. 'We've taken you to the kitchens and you've seen how happy they are- stop trying to free them, it's cruel.'

'It's cute,' Fred said, looking directly at Hermione.

Angelina smirked and nudged George, who raised his eyebrows. Hermione blushed and tried to concentrate on her salad.

With the main course finished, clean plates and bowls magically appeared and voices around the room could be heard ordering pudding. Hermione had vanilla ice cream, Fred had chocolate fudge cake, George had a banana split and Angelina had profiteroles. When the meal was finally finished, Dumbledore stood and asked everyone else to do the same. Then he waved his wand and the tables zoomed back along the walls, leaving the floor clear. Then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right-hand wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a cello and a set of bagpipes were set upon it.

The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage and everyone clapped enthusiastically; they were all hairy and were dressed in black robes that were artfully ripped in places. The music started and the lanterns around the room had gone out. The champions were taking to the dance floor. Harry stumbled to his feet and was soon being steered around the room by Pavarti. For a minute everyone simply watched the couples dancing and then they applauded them. Soon, other couples around the room were getting up to join the champions. Neville and Ginny and Seamus and Lavender were dancing, as well Professor McGonagall and Ludo Bagman, and even Professor Dumbledore with Madame Maxime.

'Let's dance, Ange,' George said, pulling his date to her feet.

Hermione and Fred watched them for a moment. George wasn't a bad dancer. Hermione wondered whether Fred would be the same. The Weird Sisters finished their first song and began a new one, which was much faster. A huge smile spread across Fred's face and he suddenly grabbed Hermione's hand, pulling her to her feet.

'Come on, I love this song,' Fred said enthusiastically.

Hermione was whirling in Fred's arms as he whisked her expertly around the room. The pace was a bit too fast for Hermione but she could see that Fred liked it. His hand grasped hers tightly while his other was firmly on her waist. He smiled down at her. After a few minutes the song finished and the room applauded. There was a moment's pause and a new song began- a slow one.

Fred looked down at Hermione and his smile was gone. He took her hand again and grasped her waist and pulled her closer- much closer. And then they began to sway gently to the music. Hermione was so near Fred that she could smell him. He didn't wear any aftershave but he smelled wonderful. It was the natural Fred scent that had subtle hints of fresh laundry and mint.

She had been close to Fred many times. He hugged her a lot and held her hand- in a friendly way. Sometimes he playfully kissed her cheek or her hand or forehead. That's how Fred was. A flirt. But (along with George) he had always been her best friend. Why was it, then, that her heart was racing? Why did her hand tingle where it touched his?

Hermione looked up and her eyes found his. She didn't know if it was simply a result of the lighting in the room but the blues and greens and greys in his eyes seemed to be dancing. He smiled at her- a slow, unconsciously seductive smile he had never shown her before and she found herself mesmerised. She laid her head on his firm, solid chest and heard the rhythm of his heartbeat which sounded as though it was racing as much as hers was. He tightened his grip on her waist and continued to sway.

The song ended and they stopped slow dancing but Fred didn't let her go even as the next song began, and Hermione still rested her head on his chest. After a few seconds she looked up at him and found that he had the same expression on his face all the while they had been dancing. He lowered his head so their faces were very close. Hermione held her breath, sure something was going to happen.

'Hermione, I-' he began but the volume of the Weird Sister's instruments increased and everywhere around them people were clapping enthusiastically in time with the beat of the song. Fred looked around and seemed to realise where he was and what he was doing. He slowly detached their clasped hands and removed his other hand from her waist.

'Fred.' It was all Hermione could say.

They were knocked sideways as George and Angelina, who had been dancing a bit too wildly, crashed into them, laughing. Fred put his hand on Hermione's arm to steady her and gave his brother a cheeky grin, which he then turned to Hermione.

'Do you want a drink?' he said. When she nodded he grabbed her hand and pulled her swiftly towards the drinks table. Hermione sensed that Fred was Fred again, and the spell was broken.

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**I hope you enjoyed this. Please review!**


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